It wasn’t all bad

last updated 8 January 2015

For the first time since Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans more than two years ago, the city’s famed streetcars began rumbling through the historic Garden District last week. The storm destroyed the line’s power system, though the iconic 1920s-era green cars were not damaged. At the official reopening, revelers lined the streets, holding up drinks and waving signs proclaiming “Welcome Back” and “No More Bus.” Officials called the streetcars’ return a milestone in the city’s slow recuperation. “It’s what makes New Orleans feel like home,” said City Councilwoman Stacy Head. “It’s as important as red beans and rice and Mardi Gras.”

Former President George H.W. Bush, 83, celebrated the 10th anniversary of his presidential museum last week by sky diving. Bush, strapped to an Army parachutist, floated gently to the landing spot adjacent to the crowd, which was expecting a sky-diving show but not a former president. Bush, who had hip replacement surgery in January, then took to the podium and said age was no reason to slow down. “I don’t have to sit around drooling just because I’m 83,” he said. It was Bush’s sixth sky dive. His first jump was in 1944, when his Navy fighter plane was shot down over the Pacific.

An anonymous donor has given a staggering $100 million to a foundation in Erie, Pa., that distributes funds to local charities. Mike Batchelor, president of the Erie Community Foundation, would say only that the donor has been working with the group for years to identify deserving recipients. In recent weeks, 46 charities in the struggling Rust Belt community have been informed of their grants. Kitty Cancilla, who runs a homeless shelter, cried when she learned it will get $2 million. The shelter’s previous largest donation was $25,000. While speculation about the donor’s identity is rife, most folks simply refer to him or her as “Anonymous Friend.”